


What's in the Box?

by quantum27



Series: a cup of good intentions (tron one shots) [18]
Category: Tron - All Media Types, Tron: Uprising
Genre: ??? i guess im not sure this is exactly humor but hey, Fluff, Gen, Humor, its the Warm Fuzzies type of fic.
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-17
Updated: 2020-12-17
Packaged: 2021-03-11 04:35:39
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,287
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28119312
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/quantum27/pseuds/quantum27
Summary: "“Beck.” Tron said in that reprimanding tone of his, “What. Is in. The box?”"
Relationships: Beck & Tron (Tron)
Series: a cup of good intentions (tron one shots) [18]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1872664
Comments: 12
Kudos: 34





	What's in the Box?

**Author's Note:**

  * For [Ultima_Thule](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ultima_Thule/gifts).



Beck held the box close to his chest, hands tight around it. He was currently debating what route to go down with this situation- ‘Regular Mechanic Beck’ would probably be better for this, but it was so hard to just be that when he mostly interacted with Tron as ‘Renegade Beck’. And he was still leaning towards ‘Renegade Beck’, if only because of the fact that Tron was currently staring at him with one of his more strong scowls, a slight furrow in his brows.

“ _Beck._ ” Tron said in that reprimanding tone of his, “What. Is in. The box?” 

The box chirped in response to the question, it’s noise muffled by the lid. Beck stared at it blankly. Tron raised his eyebrows. Bringing back a box was not part of the plan. It was supposed to be a simple recon mission. He was not supposed to bring back a chirping box. Or what was in the chirping box.

“Look, I found it- I have no idea what the Occupation would even need it for- but I couldn’t leave it there. And actually, I was gonna bring it to Able since he also has one but then I thought that maybe this one was different since the _Occupation_ had it-” Beck stopped in his tracks as Tron’s face remained in its ever stoic state. 

“That’s not answering my question.” The security monitor said. 

“Well, it’s just…” Beck didn’t know how Tron was going to react. That was always the worrying part. 

The box chirped again. Beck sighed. 

“Okay.” He said simply before opening the box. 

A bright blue _thing_ flew out, pulsing intermittently with yellow as a slew of ‘YES’s followed each color change. 

Tron blinked, “A Bit.” 

“Yeah. A Bit.” Beck found himself smiling without meaning to as the Bit flew around the room, checking every single area out. 

“Beck.” Tron looked pained about what he was going to say, “How do you know that this Bit isn’t, a-” He paused, a slight sign of a struggle dancing in his eyes, “A. Spy.” 

“Uhm.” Beck clenched his fists, trying to contain the bubble of laughter ready to spill out at the sight of Tron being worried about a Bit being a spy, “I asked it?”

“You asked it.”

“I mean. Why wouldn’t I?” Able and Mara always talked to the Bit at the garage like a person. And as long as you kept the questions answerable to the Bit’s limited vocabulary, they could actually hold a conversation. So Beck had simply asked it if it had wanted to get out of there with a series of short questions. 

He continued, “It didn’t want to stay there, Tron. I can tell you that much.” The way the Bit had practically screamed it’s ‘NO’s when Beck had asked if it worked for The Occupation, and it’s joyful ‘YES’s when he’d asked if it wanted to get out of there had been enough for him.

“And you brought it here.” Tron’s voice was unreadable. 

“Yeah, like I said I was going to take to the garage, but I feel like there would be questions about where I got it. Bits aren’t exactly common.” At least not in Argon. Maybe in other places in the Grid, but not here. 

The Hero of the Grid looked like he was struggling with this information. It was almost uncanny witnessing it. And of all the things to throw him off, it had to be a Bit? Beck tapped his left foot a few short times to try and dispel the energy the situation was giving him. 

“No. They’re not.” Tron finally said. “They’re really not.” His gaze focused on the Bit as it examined the healing chamber, clumsily bonking into it. “Beck. I can’t keep a Bit here.” 

“Why not?” It wasn’t like Bits needed much to take care of them, they were basically self-sustainable. And there was also the thought that maybe Tron could use some more company besides Beck and the empty halls of the safehouse. Besides old ghosts that haunted Tron’s every waking moment. 

Tron squinted at him, “I just can’t. It’ll have to go, Beck.” 

“Tron-” Beck protested before a flash of red flew past him. 

The Bit launched itself to Tron’s chest, vibrating with scarlet ‘NO’s. It sounded remarkably like begging. It probably was. 

Beck, of course, had frozen at the sight. Tron was pretty averse to touch for a very good reason. 

The security monitor was also frozen. Something akin to shock traced his face. The Bit was finally starting to calm down, eventually going back to its neutral state. Instead of flying away after it did though, it instead traveled further up from Tron’s chest up to the crook of his neck. It nestled there, and Beck was struck with some alarm. It was the side with the scar, after all. 

And then the unexpected happened. Beck wasn’t even sure what the noise was at first, his mind not quite connecting the dots. It was almost melodic. Soft and sweet, and joyous. 

It was laughter. 

Tron was _laughing_. Beck could count on one hand the number of times that he’d heard him laugh properly rather than one of his ‘hmphs’ or ‘hms’. But even then his laughter had had an edge to it that was bitter. This was sweet. Lovely. 

And the smile that crossed Tron’s face was even more surprising. He couldn’t smile that wide; he probably wasn’t capable of doing it without it hurting, but his teeth were showing. Not a small smirk or anything. A ‘real’ smile. Even his posture had relaxed a little. He’d never realized Tron’s shoulders were _so_ stiff.

Beck wouldn’t be surprised if he derezzed on the spot simply from the whiplash of this situation. 

“Alright,” Tron said, his voice warm in a way that reminded Beck of downcycles spent with friends, “I suppose you can stay for now.” 

The Bit chirped a bright lemon yellow ‘YES’. And another musical laugh escaped from Tron. 

Then the security monitor seemed to remember the mechanic was there. It was incredible the way he shifted, his body straightening, his face returning to a careful expression. Not a scowl though. Which was good. 

“For now.” Tron repeated, a stray hand reaching up to the Bit, which was still cuddling him. Beck was unable to keep his eyes off him _; Tron was petting a Bit_. 

“Right. I’m sure we’ll figure something out.” That was definitely the autopilot talking in Beck. The part of him that was usually used when asked about where he was or where he was going- 

“Right.” Tron echoed. Still petting the Bit. 

“Uhm. So-” Beck wasn’t sure at this point if this was just him glitching out and hallucinating, “Are we still going to train?” That had been the plan. Recon. Come back. Train. Then again, a Bit was not part of the plan. 

Tron raised his eyebrows, incredulous. 

Beck put up his hands, “Just checking!” 

Sure, Beck could be tired from a mission to the point of collapsing sometimes and Tron would still make him train (‘ _You need to learn to work through exhaustion, Beck. Sometimes you won’t get a chance to rest, or any energy to drink.’_ ), but a Bit postponing training? Sure. Might as well happen at this point. 

He started to make his way out of the place, but stopped by the door of the room, glancing back behind him. Tron was talking in soft tones to Bit, attention fully captured by it. It really was Strange. 

Then Beck shook his head and walked through the door. Best to leave the rare moment of happiness uninterrupted. The security program didn’t get them often these microcycles, after all.

**Author's Note:**

> so uh. yeah the original prompt from Ultima_Thule was uhhh 'Beck gets Tron to quit being serious for 3 seconds.' and this was. This was the result. :D ,,,and i think. It be Good? :3


End file.
